POY KALON SET

It is undoubtedly the most beautiful square of the city, and in any case the most monumental. The Mir-i-Arab madrasa faces the huge Kalon mosque and its terrible minaret, "the tower of death". Many historical films have been shot in these places, and even if the horsemen of Mohamed Chaybani Khan are not there every day, the students of the madrasa and the pilgrims who go to the mosque take care of the atmosphere. In the evening, the atmosphere is magical: we stroll on the deserted esplanade while enjoying the night illuminations of the minaret and the mosque.

The minaret Kalon. Five times a day, four muezzin climbed the 105 steps of its interior staircase to call to prayer. Their voices carried more than 8 km and the other minarets relayed the call in a radius of 16 km. The minaret was built in 1127 by the Karakhanid Arslan Khan and was not only used to call the faithful to prayer. In the ^17th century, it was from its top that the condemned and other impure were thrown out. The minaret was also used as an observation point during the day and as a lighthouse at night. Every evening, a basin filled with oil was lit in the center of the rotunda located at the top. The caravans arriving from the desert could thus locate themselves, like ships approaching the ports. Genghis Khan, who quickly appreciated its strategic importance, spared the minaret while no other monument of Bukhara survived his passage. 48 m high, with foundations sinking several meters into the ground, the minaret bears its name well, kalon meaning "big". Slightly conical in shape, it is decorated with a succession of rings of fired bricks with different geometric patterns. These bricks were made with camel milk and bull blood! All this terrible beauty did not prevent General Frunze from firing a cannon at the symbol of the power of the holy Bukhara. Badly damaged, the minaret was restored in the 1930s. In the 1970s, an earthquake was not more lenient and made him lose his head, restored since then by the care of Unesco and equipped, since 2019, with a night lighting that does not let escape any detail! For security reasons, it is unfortunately no longer possible to climb the spiral staircase leading to the top of the minaret to enjoy the splendid view offered on Bukhara and the domes of the madrasa.

Kalon Mosque. This imposing jami mosque, the largest after Bibi Khanoum, was rebuilt several times. It is said that a first mud-brick mosque was built in 713, probably on the site of a Buddhist or Zoroastrian temple, a frequent appropriation in this century of religious conquest. The mihrab of the Kalon mosque would have been located further east, at the Ark. In the ^ninth century, the mosque, with an area of 2 ha, was rebuilt according to new plans. The numerous pillars supporting the structure were made of wood, a rare commodity that forced to reduce the surface to one hectare. It is said that a fire destroyed it in the ^11th century, or that the minaret collapsed and almost destroyed it completely. In any case, it was rebuilt in the ^12th century by Arslan khan and destroyed again when Genghis khan passed by in 1220. In 1514, the khan chaybanide Abdullah khan made build a new mosque whose dimensions (130 m on 80) answered the "golden number"; in 1545, his successor made decorate the mihrab of mosaics of it. The immense interior courtyard and the covered galleries with 288 domes could accommodate more than 10,000 faithful. The mosque has seven doors, one facing the sunrise, two facing the sunset and two on each side wing. In the right wing of the mosque, a very deep well is said to contain holy water; it is poured into a huge stone bowl ensuring that it stays fresh. The pilgrims make a vow while drinking it. In the center, a rotunda with eight doors - symbolizing the gates of paradise - was built by the last khan of Bukhara in memory of the martyrs who died during the destruction of the mosque by Genghis Khan. During the Soviet era, from 1924 to 1989, the mosque remained closed, and was transformed into a warehouse and a mill during the Second World War. The blue dome, the Kok Goumbaz, dominating the mihrab, and its portal have been restored with funding from Unesco, told us a holy man meditating in the shadow of a dome, and that is also why, he added, it was not returned to worship, and that non-believers can still admire the most beautiful mosque.

Madrasa Mir-i-Arab. It was built in 1535 by Sheikh Abdullah, a Yemeni religious leader and spiritual guide of Ubaydullah khan. The khan financed its construction through the sale of 3,000 Persian prisoners, Shiite Muslims who were considered infidels and therefore could be sold as slaves. During the Soviet era, this madrasa was the only one authorized to provide religious education in Central Asia. Today, it enjoys a considerable reputation and the students are very numerous. Its access is forbidden to visitors. From the outside, its appearance is imposing and its two blue domes make a beautiful echo to the Kok Goumbaz of the Kalian mosque. The khan Ubaydullah khan and the sheik Abdullah Mir-i-Arab are buried there.